


I'll stay with you in this world

by ilovesorakingdomhearts



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, eremin week!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-05 17:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21212618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilovesorakingdomhearts/pseuds/ilovesorakingdomhearts
Summary: eremin week 2019!-day 1: sea shellday 2: yin & yangday 3: brokenday 4: costume partyday 5: forestday 6: grab bagday 7: eren's gift





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HI!! HAPPY EREMIN WEEK EVERYONE!! This is my first time participating in a ship week and I am very passionate about eremin so I hope these prompts are half decent... enjoy!!

Sea Shell

After all this time.

After all this time, he’d kept it. The sole reminder of that day. 

Eren let out a short breath, reminiscent of a laugh. To be honest, the shell was beautiful. The intricate curves and ridges all building up to a single point, slightly worn by the waves, and cold to the touch.  
He understood why Armin had been so stricken with it, however, he never actually noticed the blonde boy take it home as a keepsake.

Of course, Eren should’ve known he would. Why wouldn’t Armin take home a memory of the day he’d been waiting for for years? Had gone through hell and back to get there…

…Oh, yeah. Eren had been a complete and utter asshole on that day.

Nobody had blamed him, or scolded him for practically ruining the moment for everybody by delivering the harsh truth, but Eren couldn’t forgive himself for causing that shadow to fall over Armin’s overjoyed expression.  
He had seen the wind gently caressing Armin’s golden hair, seen the bright red flush that covered his face as he held his precious seashell out to him.

Armin had never looked more radiant than in that moment.

And yet, Eren couldn’t contain the inner turmoil that was bubbling up within him.

Now, a couple years later, but not too many, Armin had simply asked him to fetch a book from his quarters that he needed. His work with Hange was delicate and he couldn’t spare a couple seconds to run and get it, so, dutiful best friend that he was, Eren left to go find it. 

He passed by a small mirror in the hallways, and a small frown pulled at his face as he glanced at his hair. Longer. He remembered telling Mikasa to cut her hair all those years ago, so it wouldn’t get in the way of training, and yet here he is.  
Armin kept his hair relatively the same, but recently he’d been expressing an interest in cutting it completely short.  
Eren couldn’t help but feel a bit prickly about it, but didn’t say anything. It wasn’t his hair after all. Armin can do whatever he wants. 

Eren huffed lightly. Why was he getting so worked up over Armin’s hair of all things?

When he’d opened the door to Armin’s relatively tidy quarters however, Armin’s hair was the last thing on his mind.  
His mind had gone blank when he’d seen the sea shell innocently sitting on top of Armin’s bedside locker.  
Armin didn’t have a lot of keepsakes, other than his grandpa’s hat and his book about the outside world, so the sea shell seemed almost foreign. He picked it up, turned it around a couple times, slid a delicate finger over it, feeling the slightly rough texture and the bumps and ridges.  
Eren swallowed.

Placing the shell back onto the locker, Eren mechanically turned to the bookshelf sitting opposite him, and went through the titles one by one until he found the title Armin and Hange needed.

Eren knew he had to say something. He’d been avoiding the subject of the beach or the ocean or anything that could possibly make him feel like an even worse person than he already was.  
He hadn’t even been talking to Armin as much as he normally would the past few months, and Eren noticed with a twinge in his heart, that Armin would often send him forlorn looks during mealtimes.  
But he never said a word.

Eren realised with a pang, that he missed Armin. His best friend. The only one that could truly reach into Eren’s soul and pull him out of any abyss he could fall into. 

Eren finally decided to stow away his fears, the memories that had tainted that wonderful, wonderful day. He couldn’t ignore them, not when the yellow lightning and screams of people falling played within his every waking hour and then some, but he refused to let them keep him away from his best friend.

Armin deserves better than that. 

After all, Eren finally realised bitterly, Armin now had ghosts in his head too. It's not like he didn't understand why Eren had been so depressingly pessimistic. 

Eren left Armin's bedroom, carefully locking the door behind him with the key Armin gave him before he left their workspace. 

He speed walked down the corridors, chewing on his bottom lip anxiously as he pondered how to actually bring up the subject with his blond companion. Eren supposed he could just… ask Armin to find him after he was finished with Hange. 

Eren almost laughed at the idea of making a huge deal about it, Armin wasn't a dramatic person (usually) and Eren would probably give the poor boy a heart attack if he let the nervousness inside him leak into his voice. 

Eren rounded the next corner and gently opened the door to the left, cracking a smile at the sight of Armin and Hange bustling around their makeshift lab together. Armin's hair was slightly frizzing up and Eren silently committed the precious sight to memory.  
He cleared his throat with a small cough and the blond's head snapped around, wide blue eyes boring into Eren's face for a moment before he registered the book in his hands. 

Armin sighed in obvious relief. 

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much Eren, this is the exact book we needed…"  
He immediately took the book from Eren's hands and began flicking through it, scouring the pages with a practiced eye. Eren moistened his lips lightly and spoke before he could chicken out.  
"It's no problem, Armin… hey, uh, when you're finished here could you… come straight to my room please? I really have to talk to you."

Without looking up from his book, Armin nodded, but Eren could see that his eyebrows had risen considerably in curiosity.  
"Yeah, sure thing. I'll see you later?"  
Eren grinned at the subtle push to get him out of the way. Armin was busy and the last thing he needed at the moment was Eren's hovering, but at the same time he was too nice to say it outright. 

"See ya."

-

Hours passed, and Eren remained sprawled on his bed. Usually on the days where he wasn't required to do tests in his Titan form, he'd be training, but he was too busy waiting for Armin to even consider leaving now.  
After all, Armin had never specified WHEN he'd be finished for the day, so all Eren could do was stare at his ceiling and wonder when Armin was gonna show up. 

He groaned in frustration, but was cut off as he heard a soft tapping at the door.  
He sat up, rigid, and called out playfully, "Do you really even need to knock, Armin?"  
He smiled, pleased, as he heard a soft chuckle from the other side of the door.  
The door handle turned and a blond head popped in through the doorway.  
Armin closed the door behind him and sat down beside Eren on the bed. 

Eren felt his heart rate pick up slightly, and mentally scolded himself for reacting in such a way when he was meant to be initiating a serious conversation.  
Armin folded his hands into his lap, and looked at Eren curiously, head tilted slightly.  
His hair fell over his face in a rather adorable manner that made Eren feel like he was on a cloud.  
"So, what did you wanna talk about?"  
The dreaded question. 

Eren looked down at his lap, away from Armin's piercing stare.  
"Um, you know when I… picked that book you needed up from your room earlier?"  
Armin gave a hum of affirmation, and Eren swallowed.  
"Well… I couldn't help but notice, you, uh, kept the shell. From that day. At. The ocean."  
Eren internally winced as he noticed Armin tense up considerably. His voice turned cautious, rigid.  
"Well… yeah. I did. What about it?" 

Eren turned to look back at Armin, who had a stiff expression on his face that pricked at his heart strings.  
".... Could you… could you tell me about it?"  
Armin's face went slack with surprise for a second, seemingly unable to register what Eren had asked of him.  
"You… what?"  
Eren grimaced and turned around on the bed, kneeling on the mattress so he could fully face his stunned best friend.  
"Armin, I'd like you to tell me about the shell you found at the ocean. Or, show it to me. I don't know… I just… remembered.. that you, uh, wanted to…?"  
Eren's determination slowly faltered as he saw Armin's face crumple more with every word, until the blond boy covered his mouth with his hand to stifle a small sob, and Eren began to panic.  
"W- Hey, why are you crying? Oh, I'm sorry, this was a bad idea, I-"  
Eren's mouth closed as Armin shook his head firmly at his words of apology, and took a moment to dry his tears. 

Eren simply watched on dumbly as Armin brought his knees up to his chest on the bed, and gave Eren a beautiful, delighted grin.  
"You have literally no idea how long I've wanted to show it to you, Eren. No idea…" 

Armin's gaze turned soft, and Eren's mouth suddenly ran dry at the eye contact between them.  
Green and blue.  
Eren found himself edging forward a bit, mind slightly hazy. He just knew he wanted to see Armin's face a bit better, and it was slightly curtained by his hair.  
He reached out to Armin's face, and gently brushed some of his fringe out of the way, to give him a better view of the wide eyed stare he was receiving from the boy that he'd died for and would die for again. 

Armin was growing steadily pinker, and Eren wanted see more, more of this speechless Armin, and his eyes lowered to his best friend's lips.  
Eren was no stranger to how he felt for Armin, there'd just always been something else to worry about whenever he even stopped to think about it.  
But now felt like as good a time as any to just slow down, and try something new.  
He could tell Armin was waiting, waiting for Eren's move.  
He knew Armin would never do anything he wasn't sure about 100%, and you could never really be 100% sure of the outcome for kissing your childhood friend, but fortunately for him, not thinking is Eren's speciality. 

And with that, Eren kissed Armin. 

It wasn't too much at once, it was just right. It was soft, and both of them mentally decided, 'yes this is nice I think we should kiss more'. 

Eren pulled away before he could do anything that would embarrass him and Armin both, and merely stared stupidly at the tomato red blond that was in front of him. 

Armin looked away, and muttered, "You said you wanted to TALK, not SEDUCE me. Make up your mind, idiot." Eren merely smiled, knowing Armin would never speak as bluntly as that to anyone else, and took Armin's hand in his own. 

"Sleep in here tonight? You can show me the shell tomorrow." 

"Show you? You're gonna feel how I felt when I picked it up by the time we're finished." 

"... yeah, I do deserve that, don't I?"


	2. yin and yang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAY TWO!!!! sorry if this is too fluffy I kind of went insane while writing this so I went on a bit of a cuddle tangent... not so much to do w yin and yang really but I TRIED so enjoy!!

Yin and Yang

Nobody really questioned Eren and Armin's friendship, except, maybe Jean. 

They were an odd pair, sure, but upon first glance they seem to fit well together. They compliment each other. 

When you get to know them more, however, you start to notice the startling contrasts between the two, the immeasurable differences. 

Eren was hot-headed, Armin was passive. 

Eren was headstrong, Armin was strategic. 

Eren was tough, Armin was soft. 

They seem like complete opposites, right down to their appearances.  
Eren, with his ragged brown hair and fierce green eyes, and Armin, with his well kempt blond hair and big blue eyes. 

But again, they compliment each other. 

They never stopped helping each other, encouraging each other. Some days you could find the two of them alone together in the library, hunched over books together. Eren always had some trouble with the theory, and Armin, stellar student that he was, was always more than happy to go over it with him as many times as needed.  
Of course, everyone pretended not to notice that Eren’s eyes were rarely on the books when he was studying with his best friend.

And likewise, even though Armin refused Eren’s offers to stay beside him during their long excursions, Eren always met him at the end to give him some support and a helping hand.  
Again, everyone politely averted their eyes on the rare occasion that Armin was so incredibly exhausted that he practically collapsed into Eren’s welcoming arms.

Everyone, except Jean, who physically didn’t know what it meant to keep your mouth closed.  
Often he’d jeer at the two of them for being overtly comfortable with one another, but there wasn’t any real malice behind his words.  
Jean just enjoyed annoying Eren, who’d more often than not get incredibly flustered and initiate some kind of fist fight between them that Armin would drag him away from, resulting in a scolding from the blond boy. It was amusing how Eren only seemed to listen to Armin when it came to discipline, honestly.

Usually, Eren would get angry and defensive if someone tried to tell him how to act, especially if it was Mikasa.  
However, with Armin, he’d simply hang his head sullenly and mumble apologies.You’d never say this to Eren’s face, but wow, that boy was whipped.  
Armin was somewhat of a calming presence to Eren. He always seemed a bit more high strung, more on edge whenever he was by himself. 

For Armin, Eren had quite an effect on his motivation levels. Whilst no one could really match up to Armin in the classroom, the same couldn’t be said for the physical half of their military training. Armin always pushed himself to his limits, trying his best to match up to everyone’s pace, but he always seemed to be able to handle just a little bit more when he was partnered with Eren, especially during hand to hand combat.

They took it seriously, of course, but unlike the others, Eren knew how to match Armin’s abilities to give him a chance to improve his skills. 

That was just what everyone saw during the day, though. 

By the time night came around, everyone was way too exhausted from the days work to worry about anyone other than themselves. And who could blame them? The training was excruciating, the food was sparse, and they still had to wake up at ungodly hours every single morning. 

So when curfew rolled around, and Shadis began patrolling the halls in search of dawdling cadets, just about everyone would be in their dorms fast asleep.

Except for them. Not yet, anyway.

The bunks in the dorms were all similar. You had to share a bunk with somebody, and the two small beds were separated by a removable divider for personal space.

Eren and Armin never used the divider. They’d been friends since they were small children, they had no secrets between them. Plus, as Armin soon found out, having Eren as a bedmate was truly beneficial during the chilling winter months. The brunet practically gave off heat like a fireplace, it was almost unnatural. 

They started out sleeping separately, finding the comfort of the other’s presence enough to fall asleep peacefully. However, about a year into their training, Eren began suffering from nightmares brought on by the strenuous training and the extreme pressure he was putting on himself. Armin was never a deep sleeper, and so he quickly awoke to Eren’s writhing, feeling the bunk shudder and creak. The fiery boy’s eyes were screwed shut, his thin sheet was fisted up in his left hand, and his breathing was ragged. 

Armin was apprehensive at first, hating seeing Eren in such mental distress but simultaneously trying to remember whether this was like a sleepwalking situation, where it was more dangerous to wake them up. He shifted over to Eren’s side and laid a gentle hand on his head, whispering softly, “Eren, it’s just me, can you wake up…?”

Eren had tensed up upon feeling the pressure of someone’s hand on his head, but Armin’s voice seemed to get through to his raging mind, and soothed the churning inner turmoil somewhat. He mumbled something in his sleep, and his grip on his sheets relaxed slightly. His breathing was still rough, but his face wasn’t contorted in frustration anymore.  
Armin let out a held breath and continued to stroke Eren’s hair lightly, hoping he’d fall back asleep soon enough.  
Instead, Eren’s eyes shot open and Armin retracted his hand so fast you’d think he’d been burnt. Green eyes bore into the ceiling above him for a moment, before Eren turned his head to stare at the nervous blond. Armin had gone pink upon being caught stroking his best friend’s hair, but to be fair, it had seemed like it’d been helping Eren sleep peacefully again, not the opposite effect.  
Eren’s face was expressionless, and his eyes slid back forward to gaze at the ceiling again. His mouth opened for a moment, before apparently deciding against saying whatever he was planning to say. 

Armin floundered for a second, his heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly, and he started to speak, “Ah, Eren, I’m sorry, you were just having some kind of nightmare and I was trying to…help you go...back to sleep…”  
His voice trailed off as he received no acknowledgment from Eren that he’d heard what Armin said.  
Armin felt a terrible chill settle over his insides, and thoughts started flooding his mind about being a creep, Eren won’t be friends with him anymore, he overstepped his boundaries, and he was about to profusely apologise when Eren abruptly spoke again, saying, “Hey… could you do that again?”

Armin blanched at this request, and almost couldn’t believe his ears. Eren Jaeger, the boy who at nine years old had murdered two sex traffickers in cold blood, had just asked him to continue petting his hair.  
Eren’s face was devoid of embarrassment, he was just looking at Armin impassively, like he hadn’t just asked Armin to do something extremely… coupley.  
Eren sighed and patted the space next to him. “Come over here, Armin.”

Armin was extremely baffled and confused as to where these requests were coming from, but… it didn’t sound too bad. With everything that had happened in the past few years, there’d never been time to indulge in nice things.  
Armin missed his youth terribly, missed reading to Eren and holding his hand as they precariously crossed over rivers and traversed through fields together, pretending they were outside the walls already.

And with that thought, Armin slid closer to Eren, almost impossibly aware of the scant space between them, and laid his head down on Eren’s pillow.  
He thought he saw a sly smile play at Eren’s mouth before Armin felt arms snake around his sides and he involuntarily yelped quietly as Eren shifted so he was on his back, Armin practically lying across his chest. He felt his best friend sigh from beneath him, warmth radiating from his body, and if Armin hadn’t been so overwhelmed and surprised, he probably would’ve melted into the embrace.  
His face was pressed into Eren’s collarbone, and he felt the soft vibrations from Eren’s larynx as he murmured softly, “This okay, Armin?”

Armin felt as though a blood vessel might burst in his head, but he elected to keep his mouth shut, and nodded instead. It was admittedly comfortable, and it wasn’t as though Armin had never considered the idea of lying entangled with his best friend, it was just surprising that it had somehow happened. 

His breath hitched as he felt Eren nuzzle gently at his hair, and Armin finally relaxed. He allowed himself a tiny smile as he closed his eyes, and drifted away. 

Eren felt pleasantly smothered by the sleeping blond on top of him, and was hoping that he hadn’t freaked Armin out too badly with his sudden advances. He was already feeling so much better than he had after waking up from those terrible nightmares, visions of red, and yellow, and bright flashing lights, and screams, swimming across his vision and playing in his head. 

But Armin made it better. 

Somehow, he grounded him, and quelled the horrible images with his sweet voice and gentle hands. 

Eren was simply overwhelmed with affection for the smaller boy, and being as shit with words as he was, decided to just show him instead. Plus, surely if Armin’s voice had been enough to stop his dreams, maybe just having him here in his arms would be enough to keep them away for good. 

After that debacle, they were both woken up in the morning by Marco Bodt, who had a knowing smile on his face as he shook Armin’s shoulder lightly. Before Armin could get extremely embarrassed about being caught cuddling Eren in his sleep, Marco placed a finger to his lips and whispered, “It’s okay, Armin. I won’t tell anyone, but I can’t guarantee that Jean or Connie won’t if they see.”

Armin became aware that it seemed to be very early, and everyone except himself and Marco was still fast asleep. He was suddenly extremely grateful for Marco’s existence, and whispered a muted “thank you” to him before slowly attempting to pry himself out of Eren’s arms.  
Marco chuckled, and went back to his own shared bunk with Jean, not before he whispered, “Don’t worry, Armin. I think it’s sweet.”

After this, Eren and Armin might as well have applied for a single shared bed. 

They were two halves of the same whole, anyway, and it’s apparent to anyone who met them that they really couldn’t do without each other.


	3. broken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone!!! day three time, this entry is... um a bit longer than the rest. its actually based on a bunch of headcanons my friend toni and I made for eren when he was a kid so I took advantage of the prompt to bring him to life. hes like our son now, I love u erin yagger.

Broken 

Eren had hit a roadblock.

Not a literal one, of course, he wasn't OUTSIDE.  
He was curled up on the thin ledge attached to the window in their kitchen, with a leather bound novel opened on his lap.

He swung his legs back and forth absently, tracing a small finger just underneath every word on the page, and his bright green eyes following after slowly.  
Eren's face was furrowed in concentration, and you could slice the tension in the air around him with a knife.

No one was in the house at the moment, Eren's mother was out in the market with some friends, and his father was doing his routine visits of the families that lived outside the main city of Shiganshina, so Eren was left to his own devices.

Usually, on a day such as today, you'd find Eren gallivanting around outside, accompanied by his very best friend, Armin Arlert. 

'Accompanied' being used loosely, as Eren often got very overexcited and traipsed ahead whilst the smaller blond struggled to keep up with his energy.  
However, Eren would never leave Armin behind. Maybe he wasn't the strongest boy around, but he was one of the toughest, in Eren's opinion. And super smart to boot.

Unfortunately, today Armin had been confined to his house by his parents due to a small cough, the poor boy was prone to various illnesses, and Eren had made his father promise to visit him before coming home that evening.

The day before before being quarantined, Armin had been reading a book to Eren, one that Armin liked very much, filled with fairy tales and stories with decent moral lessons.   
Eren could tell Armin loved it almost as much as he loved his Grandpa's book on the outside world, alas, Armin only brought that book out when he was 100 percent certain his Grandpa wouldn't miss it. 

Eren had been more than content to listen to Armin reading the book out loud, finding comfort in his soft, lilting voice. Armin was very good at reading, and he'd only pause on the really really big words, mentally sounding it out in his head before attempting to read on.

Eren thought that was super cool.

And so, after Armin decided it was getting a bit late and scary outside, the blond had shyly offered Eren his precious book to read himself that night, claiming he'd read it probably a million times already.   
Eren was astounded at this, he could only count to ten, twenty on a good day, let alone a whole million!  
Eren graciously accepted the book with a toothy smile that made Armin giggle, and the blond boy waved at his best friend before cautiously making his way back home. 

Eren stared at his back for a couple seconds, before glancing down at the book in his hand, and hugging it protectively against his chest.   
He walked back home with the book tucked tightly away in his arms and he glared daggers at anyone brave enough to raise an eyebrow or stare at him. 

This book was Armin's, and Eren silently vowed to keep it safe no matter what. 

Eren recalled one occasion when he happened upon Armin being harassed by older boys, however this time, they had one of Armin's precious novels dangling from the hand of a particularly brutish looking boy, who cackled viciously as Armin attempted to grab at it, just out of reach, and yelled angrily at the boys, tears welling up in his blue eyes. 

Eren had only seen red in that moment, and barrelled into the boys, reeling back and punching the main perpetrator right in the nose.   
The elder boy had dropped the book in shock, and Armin instantly scrambled to pick it up and backed away into a corner, hugging it close. 

The boys instantly turned on Eren, snarling, but loud footsteps came echoing down the alleyway and they all quickly split for fear of a Military Police officer finding them beating up a child.   
Eren couldn't help but grin victoriously as he breathed heavily, before turning around to rush over to Armin's side to check him for any injuries. 

However, Eren stopped before opening his mouth, taking in the sight of Armin forlornly inspecting the first couple pages of his book, gently turning the pages.   
The small boy's lip began to quiver, and he looked up at Eren with sad, blue eyes that struck his very core, making Eren kind of want to cry too. 

Armin turned the book to face Eren, pointing a finger at a couple pages which were now ragged and uneven. 

"They tore it. They tore my book." 

Tears quickly welled up in Armin's eyes and spilled over onto his round cheeks. 

"How.... how could they tear it like that?! I don't get it.... Eren... Mother gave me this one...."

The poor boy began to sob and curled in on himself, burying his face in his knees, leaving the book beside him, open on the torn pages. 

Eren stared for a second, feeling hot rage beginning to burn his insides, screaming at him to find the boys responsible for Armin's heartache and to beat the everloving fuck out of them, but as he watched his best friend hiccup on his tears, he quickly decided there were more important things to attend to first. 

He awkwardly sat down next to Armin and sidled closer to him, wrapping a short arm around the blond's shoulders.   
Armin had momentarily frozen, before lifting his head up to stare at Eren.   
Eren had always reckoned that Armin's eyes were prettier than any flower he'd found whilst traipsing through the fields, but having them gaze at him so intensely made him feel a bit embarrassed. 

Having finally reached his house, Eren shook away the warm memory and entered his home to find his mother humming cheerfully as she instructed his father on the correct way to peel vegetables.   
Eren couldn't help but scoff at how his incredible doctor of a father was often useless at most menial tasks, and the noise alerted Carla to her son's presence. 

Eren set the book down next to his bed and carried on with his regular evening routine.   
Before he went to bed, he remembered the book and felt guilty that he hadn't made time to look at it like Armin had wanted, and mentally promised himself he'd read some in the morning and report back to Armin later in the day when they met up. 

However, Eren heard from his father in the morning that Armin was confined to his room for at least a day, to help him recover from a small cough he’d procured. It might not sound like a big deal, but Armin’s immune system wasn’t great and it didn’t take too much for him to become seriously ill. Eren, although greatly disappointed, was more concerned for his best friend’s health than over what he wanted to do that day

Now though, Eren had to occupy a whole day by himself.   
And now, we're back where we began.  
Eren sitting on the window with Armin's precious book splayed across his lap, squinting hard at the small letters.   
As Eren stared at the words, he came to a slow, yet disturbing realisation. 

Eren didn't actually know how to read. 

He gaped down at the book, jaw slack. He was looking at the words, sure, he could tell that the spaces differentiated each word, obviously, yet…   
… None actually registered any meaning in his head. They just looked like weirdly shaped squiggles to him. 

How in the actual hell was Armin able to decipher this mess? 

His stare slowly transitioned into a glare, and one of his hands curled into a fist beside him. Why wasn't he able to understand this? Is it something you were meant to learn?   
But, Armin had always made reading look so easy, Eren had honestly assumed that everyone was probably born able to read. 

Apparently not. 

Or maybe the book wasn't working? Eren had only ever really listened to Armin reading from his book while he messed around with something or other, he hadn't actually ever really taken a closer look for himself. 

Frowning, Eren shook the book slightly, leaning his face so close to the book that his nose lightly touched the centre.   
No good, it was still gibberish.   
He began to feel slightly frustrated. Armin had never mentioned a special trick you needed to be able to read a book, and Eren knows he would've told him if there had been. 

He simply couldn't understand why this wasn't making any sense. He scowled at the book.   
He needed to read some of it so that he could tell Armin what he thought of it later on when he was feeling better. 

Maybe it was just this page that wasn't working, and the rest was fine? Eren flipped over the page, and got increasingly mad as he continued to skip through the book page by page, unable to understand any of the words more than before. 

Eren growled in frustration, and yanked a couple pages in the center of the book violently, aiming to turn them over.   
What he got, however, was a sharp ripping sound that made Eren freeze in action.   
He stared in horror at the pages that were now in his hand, bunched up, and very much separated from Armin's book. 

Armin. 

Eren dropped the book onto the window sill beside him and backed away, holding his hand to his chest. It was like his insides had iced over, and Eren felt tears welling up in his eyes. 

He ripped Armin's book.   
The pages were torn. 

It was broken now, and it was Eren's fault.   
He was as bad as the mean boys who had done the same before, except it was worse now.   
Armin trusted him with this book, and Eren had gotten angry and ruined everything again.   
Oh, how was he gonna fix this?   
The thought of Armin crying or hating him made Eren feel sick to his stomach, he needed to do something quickly to make Armin forgive him. 

Of course, Eren hadn't considered that Armin currently had no idea that he'd ruined his book, he was only a child and he really hated the idea of his only friend hating him because of a stupid mistake. 

Eren bit his lip anxiously, and began rummaging through his house for something to inspire him, anything, what could he possibly give to Armin that could make up for a broken book? 

Eren was about to give into despair and cry on the floor, when something white caught his eye.   
He sniffed and used his sleeve to roughly wipe away his building tears, and went over to the drawers that had multiple pages sticking haphazardly out of them. 

Eren merely looked at it for a second.   
Part of his father's job as a doctor included his being able to draw accurate diagrams of different parts of the human body, and so there was often random pieces of paper strewn across the house wherever you looked. 

Eren thought really, really hard for a second, and came to an easy conclusion.   
Since he was incapable of expressing how sorry he was through words, unlike Armin, he decided that he'd try to show him instead. 

-

Armin walked along the streets of Shiganshina, clutching nervously at the bottom of his shirt that was a little too big for him.   
He was feeling better, even though the cough he'd gotten really hadn't been that bad, in his opinion. Eren's nice father came by to check up on him in the evening, and told him that Eren said to get better soon.   
The thought made Armin smile softly, and his grasp on his shirt relaxed slightly.   
He'd felt bad about leaving Eren to his own devices, but he did lend him his book, so maybe he'd read it! 

Armin's smile widened, and he picked up his pace to a fast walk to Eren's house.   
He skillfully ducked into alleys when he noticed a bully stalking towards him, determined to not let anything get in his way today. 

Armin felt a little apprehensive about going to Eren's house, honestly. Usually, Eren would call for Armin first, so Armin could avoid dealing with painful encounters by himself, but today he hadn't shown up.   
He just hoped that Eren hadn't finally gotten sick of him. 

He rounded the corner, daring to allow a small skip into his step as Eren's house came into sight.  
Armin walked up to the front door and knocked as hard as he could, three short taps.   
There was some murmuring from inside and the sound of approaching footsteps, and his grip on his clothes tightened again.   
The door opened, and Eren's mother, Carla, stared straight ahead for a moment in confusion, before glancing down.   
A smile broke her blank expression as she took in Armin's small form, and she lowered himself down to his eye level to speak with him. 

"It's nice to see you again, Armin! Are you here to see Eren?" 

Armin nodded shyly. Carla was a really nice lady, and he could clearly recognise the resemblance she had to her son in her face.   
Carla, unable to resist, reached over to ruffle his blond hair with a small chuckle, and straightened herself back up. 

"Please, come on in, Armin. Eren's in his room, he might still be asleep so if you wouldn't mind waking him up…" 

She winked at him, and Armin giggled lightly. 

He headed inside with a soft, "thank you", and walked over to Eren's bedroom door. 

When he opened it, he came across a surprising sight.   
Eren had a small desk and chair in his room that he barely touched, since his dad was a prestigious doctor around the town, his family could afford slightly higher class facilities.   
Right now, Eren was sitting at the desk, head resting on one of his arms as he snored softly against the fabric of his sleeve.   
His other hand was open on the desk, barely touching a small, blue crayon. 

Armin blinked at the surprisingly peaceful scene, before he tiptoed over to Eren, careful not to startle him awake.   
He was asleep on top of whatever he'd been working on, but Armin could see an array of colours lolling about on the desk, green, yellow, brown, etc. 

Armin covered his mouth to giggle.   
Eren usually liked to come off as tough, but Armin knew that deep down he was a kindhearted boy, and he was just as vulnerable as any other kid their age to childish desires. 

Armin placed a gentle hand on Eren's shoulder and shook him lightly, whispering his name softly, over and over. 

Eren eventually stirred, groaning, and tried to nestle his face deeper into his arm, before seemingly realising he wasn't in his bed.   
He lifted his head up, green eyes blinking blearily. There were a few tufts of his already unkempt hair sticking out, and Eren rubbed his eyes gently with a small fist. 

He looked around at Armin, too sleepy to be surprised, and mumbled a small greeting.   
Eren glanced back down at his desk, and his eyes widened suddenly.   
He sat up, straight as a board, and swiftly picked up the paper he'd been drawing on off the desk, hiding it behind his back. 

Armin was terribly confused at this point. 

He tried to reach for Eren's shoulder, saying, "Ah, Eren, are you okay? Did you… stay up all night drawing? What is i-" 

He didn't even get to finish his sentence before Eren averted his eyes and practically shoved the picture into Armin's chest, the small blond letting out a little 'oof!' 

Eren began babbling incessantly, his face growing pinker and more upset as he spoke.   
"I'm really really sorry Armin, I was trying to read the book you gave me the other day, a-and I really tried to read it, I honestly did-"   
Tears started leaking out of Eren's eyes at this point.   
"-but I couldn't understand the words, no matter what I tried!! And, I just got really mad, you know? I promise you I didn't mean to, but I…"

He struggled to get the words out, but Armin still hadn't taken his eyes off him to look at the paper he'd shoved into his arms.   
"...I ripped a couple pages in your book. Please don't be mad at me, I'm really sorry and I-I drew you a picture and everything…" 

Armin had barely processed anything Eren said, not even fully reacting to his statement about tearing his book, but he looked down all the same at the sheet of paper he was given.

What he saw sent a pang through his heart. 

It was a crude picture of Eren and himself, evident by the two heads of brown and blond.  
They were standing on a blanket of yellow sand that matched Armin's hair, in front of a wide expanse of scribbled blue. 

The ocean. 

Armin stared at it, awestricken.   
He noticed that he and Eren were holding hands, and that idea sent a little thrum through his heart.   
It made him feel warm, and fuzzy, and even though he did feel a bit miffed that Eren had torn the pages in his book, he knew Eren had only the best intentions at heart. 

Realising how much their dream meant to Eren, seeing the feeling and effort he put into this little drawing…

Armin couldn't help but sniffle a bit, it made him incredibly happy.  
Although, he hadn't even been aware that Eren hadn't known how to read, and he suddenly felt like a bad friend. 

He looked up at Eren, who was staring at him, wringing his hands anxiously, and he set down the drawing back onto the desk.   
Armin turned back to him and enveloped him in a big hug that Eren practically melted into, clutching the back of his shirt.   
Armin patted him gently on the back, and whispered, "It's okay, Eren. I forgive you." 

He drew back, and gave Eren a sunny smile, that Eren shakily returned.  
Armin looked back over at the drawing, and Eren's face turned a bit pink and he coughed lightly.   
"I, um, freaked out a bit yesterday… I still have the pages even if they are torn out, but I…I drew us anyway. I hope it's okay." 

Armin nodded profusely, picking the picture back up and hugging it against his chest.   
"That's okay, I'm sure my grandpa has something we can attach them back with.   
And…. Thank you, Eren! I really really love it."  
Eren's face lit up with these words, and his smile lost it's uncertainty. 

Armin did have one question plaguing his mind, however. 

"But, um, Eren?"   
"Yeah, Armin?"   
"How come you never told me you couldn't read?"   
"..... what do you mean I can't read?"


	4. costume party

Costume party. 

Two words that sent a shiver of disgust down Eren's spine. 

Not just a costume party even, but a costume party hosted by Jean Kirschtein, of all people.   
Halloween was right around the corner, and Eren usually elected to stay at home with Mikasa, give out sweets to the kids when they called around and would spend the rest of the night binging bad scary movies.   
Sometimes Armin would join them depending on his plans that day. 

This year however, Mikasa was feeling restless, and somehow coerced Eren into agreeing to come over.   
Let it be known, Eren would never have agreed if Mikasa hadn’t subtly mentioned that Armin had decided to also come, for some reason. It was really unlike Armin to attend social events with large amounts of people, and he usually avoided them like the plague. And not only was this a party, it was also a costume party. Which, as the name suggests, involves dressing up. 

Also something that Armin wasn’t particularly comfortable with. 

Eren supposed he was mostly attending out of a twisted sense of curiosity, wanting to know what his best friend was going to dress up as. Armin hadn’t dressed up since they were around 9, and they’d both matched costumes as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.  
Eren had never forgotten the image of tiny Armin wearing fluffy ears and a droopy tail, and he didn’t think he ever would.

And, if he was being 100 percent honest, he was kind of hoping for an opportunity to speak to Armin at this party on Halloween.   
Eren had a bad habit of dancing around serious conversations, or acknowledging awkward emotions, but Armin had been blatantly avoiding him the whole week before midterm started. 

Eren wasn't the brightest, but he'd been friends with Armin for over a decade, and he was quick to pick up on his best friend's quick excuses and averted eyes.   
During the day, he'd see Armin glancing at him, almost anxiously, through his large spectacles.   
Yet, whenever he tried to approach him, he suddenly dissipated into the crowds of students pushing through the too-narrow corridors of the school. 

Much to Eren's chagrin, he'd apparently been spending his lunch breaks sitting with Jean and Marco, and he started to wonder whether Armin really wanted to go to this dumb costume party or if he'd been pressured into it.   
Okay, maybe Eren just wanted an excuse to duke it out with that long faced asshole, but there was some truth behind his thought process.   
Armin tried his best to stand up for himself, but he was easy to sway. 

There was no point moping about it, really.   
Eren wasn't worried about his friendship with Armin, he had faith that whatever was going on could be easily sorted, and would be by the end of the costume party. 

Costume… 

Eren groaned, and dragged himself off his bed to bug Mikasa about what she was planning to wear for the party. 

He shuffled out into the hallway, and rapped on the door across from him. 

There was a muffled sound from within, but no clear answer. Eren growled. 

"Mikasaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-" 

Eren drawled until there was a sharp sounding slam from within the bedroom and a very unamused Mikasa appeared in the doorway. 

"What."

Eren grinned. 

-

One budgeted shopping session and four days later, Eren and Mikasa were getting ready to head over to Jean's place. 

Mikasa had the bathroom thoroughly out of bounds whilst she was putting together whatever demon based accessories she'd managed to scrounge up in the cheap stores, so Eren had resigned to using the mirror in their living room. 

He took in his appearance, and decided that he looked extremely fucking dumb with slicked back hair, fake fangs, and blood dripping from his lips that tasted gross.   
However, Eren knew better than to underestimate Jean.   
He hosted a Halloween party every single year, and while this may be Eren's first time actually attending one, he'd heard from other students that Jean kept special outfits at hand for the kids that turned up thinking they were too cool to wear an outfit. 

Eren gave himself a once over, spun around with his cape a little and got bored of waiting for his sister.   
Maybe legally Eren was an adult, but certainly not mentally. 

Mikasa eventually made her appearance downstairs, sporting plastic devil horns, a matching tail, and a small trident that would've looked funny if it were anyone other than Mikasa wielding it. She gave off a menacing aura, and Eren coughed weakly before they both silently made their way outside. 

Jean only lived a street over, maybe a 10 minute walk at most, and Eren and Mikasa didn't look out of place amongst the kids and younger teens that were out pillaging candy from weary inhabitants. 

Eren coughed again awkwardly, and Mikasa glanced at him. "Ask."  
He fumbled a bit with his words, it was always disconcerting how well Mikasa knew him, but he got there eventually.   
"Do you… have any idea what Armin's dressing up as? For this thing?"   
Mikasa's eyebrow raised ever so slightly, and she looked away, tugging at the red scarf she'd refused to leave behind even for a party.   
"No idea. You'll find out soon enough, won't you?"   
Eren felt a pit form in his stomach. 

Another bout of silence later, and they turned a corner, crossing onto Jean's street. They could already pinpoint his house from all the rest, music could be faintly heard blaring, and the lights seemed a bit brighter somehow.   
It was covered head to toe in decorations, spider webs adorning the patio in front of the house, and a tacky skeleton prop seated in the rocking chair Jean's mother liked to use whilst weaving.   
Eren wrinkled his nose, but deep down there was a spark of excitement at the idea of getting to hopefully hang out with Armin and talk things out with him. 

They made their way up three small steps, and Eren rang the buzzer, twice for good measure. Mikasa gave him a dirty look. 

Yelling could be heard from inside, and it became clearer as Jean Kirschtein opened the door, wearing the stupidest fucking outfit Eren had ever laid eyes on, and that was saying something, because he picked his own costume out himself. 

In that moment, Eren silently decided that Armin was the only person who could look good in any kind of wolf apparel. 

Having heard Eren's sharp intake of breath upon seeing his outfit, Jean's face turned from a grin to a scowl, which only softened a tad when he looked from Eren to Mikasa.   
He sighed, and held the door open begrudgingly.   
"Get in, dumbass, it's cold and there's someone in here waiting for you." 

These words made Eren's insides freeze up, but outwardly he just rolled his eyes and stepped past Jean, his eyes automatically scanning over the small groups of people smattering around the hall. 

Everytime he saw blond his breath hitched, however it was just Reiner wearing a Frankenstein costume, or Annie in an uncharacteristically cute cat costume that Hitch no doubt forced her into, or Historia, who had apparently matched with Ymir in dressing as a demon and an angel respectively.   
Eren could feel Mikasa twitch behind him. 

He was beginning to feel frustrated. I mean, he only came to this party to talk to Armin, how was he supposed to do that if Armin just kept fucking teleporting all over the place?

Eren dragged his feet lightly, opting for checking the living room, until he heard a chorus of astonished noises rise up from the very room he was hoping to check. 

He furrowed his brow, and idly wondered why the door was even shut, before he opened it, and a sudden hush fell over the room. 

Eren blinked. 

Eren stared. 

Standing with a small group of their friends, was Armin. 

It wasn't just Armin though. 

It was Armin, devoid of glasses, wearing a form fitting sleeveless black and yellow dress with a frilly skirt, black tights, and two black rabbit ears perched on top of his silky golden head. 

The two stared at one another for a few seconds, Armin in increasing fear and Eren in increasing shock. 

Eren moistened his lips, noticing Armin following the motion with a twist of his gut, and spoke slowly. 

"Is… is this why you've been avoiding me all week?"   
He weakly motioned towards Armin's get up with his right hand. 

Armin kept shifting his hands, not quite knowing how to position them.   
His face was turning increasingly pinker as the silence went on, and the group surrounding his best friend really wasn't helping with the pressure.   
Armin ducked his head after a few seconds and muttered, "No…. not exactly." 

Eren wasn't one to beat around the bush, and so he all but hissed at the nosy group who'd obviously been questioning Armin's attire choice and made him uncomfortable.   
They filtered out, ruffled, and Eren closed the door behind them with a small noise of annoyance. 

Armin stayed silent, opting to fiddle with the cuff on his left hand.   
Eren sighed, and simply asked, "Why exactly are you wearing a bunny suit, Armin?"   
The smaller blond ducked his head in shame.   
"I… I may have lost a bet. With Jean."  
Eren's brow furrowed, and he felt anger start to grow in his chest. Did that bastard really force Armin into this outfit? 

Armin registered Eren's expression darkening and began to panic, frantically shaking his hands in front of him.   
"Don't start anything Eren, it's honestly fine, I'm fine, uh…"  
He looked down and pressed his two index fingers together anxiously.   
"... does it really look that bad?" 

Eren floundered for a moment, obvious shock registering on his face. He'd been so caught up in being concerned for Armin himself that he hadn't actually noticed how good his best friend looked in the outfit.   
And that was really, really good.   
Regardless of what some people thought, Armin was in no way overtly feminine, but this kind of outfit suited him in a way.   
Eren forced his eyes away from the shapliness of Armin's legs, accented by the small yellow heels he was wearing ('since when did Armin know how to walk in heels?' Eren thought absently), and met two big, blue eyes in a kind of silent staring competition. 

It seemed like years until Eren managed to croak out his lame answer of, "No, Armin. It actually does look really good on you."  
Upon hearing this, Armin's face flushed pink again but he seemed more flattered now, giving Eren a small, shy smile. 

Armin seemingly realised something however, and the smile disappeared. Eren immediately grew concerned, and took a step closer to his best friend, who made no move to step away. 

Armin groaned, and grabbed Eren's wrist, leading him to the sofa at the side of the living room.  
While confused, Eren was also pleased that he was hopefully going to finally be able to get to the bottom of whatever was bothering his best friend. 

The two sat down on the sofa, side by side. There was little space between them, which Eren was now hyperaware of, and Armin was wringing his hands anxiously. He sighed, and began to speak.   
"I'm… sorry that I've been avoiding you, Eren."   
The brunet let out an exhale and leaned back against the sofa in relief, and Armin gave him a strange look. Eren smiled back.  
"I was worried I'd been overreacting, keep talking." Armin scoffed, but continued speaking regardless.   
"I, uh, had been speaking to Jean… for a bit, and he was trying to… help me? Motivate me anyway, to do… something… I've been afraid to do."

Eren stayed silent, afraid that his brain would betray him and make him say something stupid.   
Instead, whilst focusing on Armin's words, Eren stared at a lock of Armin's golden hair, framing the side of his face, that he had the burning urge to brush behind his ear. 

Armin gave him a sidelong glance. 

"Okay, well, I have a gigantic crush on you, and I don't know what the fuck to do about it, Jean was sick of me whining to him and Marco about it, and gave me the week to say something to you, and well…"  
Armin gestured towards his attire helplessly. 

However, Eren's mind was slow, and he'd only registered as far as the "I have a gigantic crush on you" part of Armin's longwinded sentence.   
Eren could almost convince himself he hallucinated it, but he'd seen Armin's steely expression and his mouth shaping the sounds, and for a moment, he forgot how to think. 

Eren was never really that great with words, he preferred action over speaking, and here it really shone through.   
Reaching his hand around Armin's face, he cupped his cheek and turned his best friend's face towards his. Armin was obviously startled, and went bright red, black ears bobbing cutely. 

Eren kissed him, and he wasn't sure what he was expecting to happen, but Armin's lips were soft and that's really all that mattered. 

Armin pulled away first, grimacing, and Eren felt his heart sink until the blond wiped at the fake blood that now stuck to his face, muttering, "That tasted gross. Give a guy a warning before you kiss him with bloody lips, geez." 

But Armin was smiling regardless, and Eren was too. 

"Soooooo…." Eren drawled.   
Armin quirked an eyebrow questioningly. 

"... that suit belongs to Jean, huh?" 

Armin snorted and they both burst into a fit of giggles, only calming down when Eren placed one hand on Armin's and leaned in close to the smaller boy's ear, whispering.   
"I think we should keep it for ourselves."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!!!!!!! here's today's prompt I absolutely adore usamin and wish he was used in more official stuff ok isabel out


	5. forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> day five.... so i guess this is a little bit angsty and also probably bad because I don't know how to write angst persay but I hope u enjoy anyway!!

Something was up with Armin. 

Eren knew him better than anybody else, and he had an uneasy feeling about Armin's excuses at the dinner table, and his eyes which had developed dark bags.   
He seemed absolutely exhausted. 

And who could blame him? Even the more athletically inclined were struggling with the training program, and Armin was certainly not athletically inclined.   
It made Eren nervous.

He never wanted Armin to follow him into the Cadet Corp, he was better suited to use his intelligence elsewhere, allow Eren to clear the way for the both of them, and eventually take Armin outside the walls like they'd always dreamed of.  
But Armin was stubborn, and joined anyway.   
It's not like he wasn't trying, the blond was probably trying twice as hard as everybody else to compensate for his lack of physical strength. 

As much as Eren worried for him, he admired the determination within Armin to keep up with everybody else. 

Nobody else really paid much mind to his obvious struggle, except for maybe Mikasa, who’d throw meaningful looks at Eren whenever Armin silently left the mess hall.   
Today was definitely the last straw, however. Armin left his plate practically untouched, even though the blond was usually the one nagging at Eren to eat everything on his plate, “-how are you gonna kill all the Titans if you can’t even build the muscle up first? What if you faint during the runs, huh?”

Of course, no one paid him any heed, except Sasha, who had long finished her share and was prowling about the hall, watching out for anyone unfortunate enough to leave their food unattended. She immediately swept it up, and Armin barely flinched, before letting out a minute sigh that no one other than Eren could’ve possibly heard. He mumbled something incomprehensible and swung his legs over the bench, expression lackluster. 

Eren kept his mouth shut, and waited for Armin to leave through the doors at the other end of the mess hall before he too shoved a plate over to Sasha’s general vicinity, hearing a squeal of delight.  
He caught Mikasa’s eye as he stood up, and she gave him a tiny nod.

Eren chewed on his lip as he power walked down the different hallways, peeking into each of Armin's known haunts for a glimpse of a blond head.   
However, once Eren realised Armin was neither in his own room, nor the bedroom, he grew extremely worried, and began pacing back and forth in the hallway, uncaring that his scuff marks would likely cause an uproar later on. 

Armin was obviously feeling down about something. Armin is also the kind of person who would take his troubles to the grave, if you let him. Eren knows Armin hates nothing more than feeling like a dead weight to people, so he's probably hiding out somewhere that people wouldn't think to look in.   
Somewhere secluded, away from the eyes of the other trainees during dining times.   
And if that wasn't anywhere inside the barracks, it was likely outside. 

Somewhere secluded…

Eren stopped his pacing next to one of the thinly barred windows, leant on the sill, and allowed himself a moment to gaze outside.   
He could see the forest where they trained on the ODM gear, just north of the clearing where they practiced their hand to hand combat, and something suddenly clicked in Eren's head. 

He pushed himself off the window sill with a shove and made for the nearest door outside, barrelling past other cadets who watched him with amusement and baffled expressions.   
There was a pathway within the forest that   
winded around the training area, mainly used by Shadis and his subordinates when observing the trainees.

Eren walked along the pathway, listening intently. The atmosphere amongst the trees felt somber, branches seemed to hang low.  
Just as he was starting to despair, Eren stopped dead in his tracks.   
He could hear muffled sounds coming from somewhere to his left, off the track and into the bushes.   
He swallowed thickly, and begun pushing past brambles and stepping over knotted roots, wincing as a thorn lightly grazed his right cheek. 

Soon enough, the muffled sounds grew clearer, and Eren realised with a twist of his heart that the noises were choked up sobs and heaving breaths.   
Eren pushed through a final layer of foliage and came upon a small clearing, headed by a massive tree that could've been thousands of years old, in Eren's eyes.   
It wasn't the tree that his eyes were drawn to however, rather, the shamefully pitiful figure curled up at the tree's base, knees brought up to his face, which was hidden by a curtain of golden hair. 

Eren floundered for a moment, not wanting to startle or suddenly upset Armin, but unwilling to stay away from his clearly anguished friend. 

However, he realised that decision wasn't left up to him, as he shifted his foot over a fraction and a resounding crack broke the thick tension. Armin's head snapped up, before his teary blue eyes fell on Eren and his face crumpled.   
He buried his face in his knees again, this time clutching at his head so tightly Eren began to worry he'd tear out his hair. 

Eren cursed under his breath, stepped into the clearing, and began to walk over to Armin, who was still, and tense.   
There was nothing that Eren hated more (apart from maybe Titans) than seeing Armin in mental pain.   
Maybe he wasn't as clever or resourceful as his best friend, but Eren knew him better than anybody, and knew Armin was prone to periods of self loathing. Who wouldn't be, in Armin's situation? 

Armin was sandwiched between two of the most infamous members of the 104th. Not only was he best friends with Eren, who'd risen to 2nd best at hand to hand combat and was fighting tooth and nail to get a place in the top 10, he was also friends with Mikasa, who was the overall best cadet in the regiment and excelled in almost everything she attempted. 

Meanwhile, Armin was left dead on his feet after every excursion, and lagged behind the majority of the other cadets in terms of physical prowess.  
Unfortunately, this was where most of the points for your overall placing were procured, which was sorely unfair for one such as Armin, who absolutely excelled in the classroom. 

Eren knelt beside his best friend, and placed an uncharacteristically gentle hand on Armin's shoulder.   
He could feel him quivering under his touch, and he spoke softly.   
"Armin, please look at me. It's just Eren."

Armin didn't move for a second, but then he lifted his head up a small fraction, peeking out at Eren from behind a curtain of blonde hair.   
His face was mostly hidden, so Eren sighed, but at least Armin could see him now.   
Words had never been Eren's strong suit, so he merely opened his arms 

Armin hesitated for a minute, and Eren knew it was because there was nothing he hated more than being a burden on someone, but the two had been through enough together to know that it didn't really matter to either of them.   
So, Armin unfurled himself and wrapped his arms around Eren's waist, burying his face in the crook of Eren's neck.  
His breathing was uneven, and there were traitorous tears leaking out of his eyes, but Eren's natural warmth and scent seeped into his skin, familiar and homely. 

Eren hugged him back, smiling sadly into Armin's soft hair, and rubbed comforting circles into the smaller boy's back. 

Armin eventually sniffled and spoke quietly, "I'm… sorry. It's been a bad week. I usually go here so I don't bother anyone, but um…"  
He let out a short breath that could've been a chuckle. "... You found me anyway, didn't you?" 

Eren huffed lightly, and felt his face heat up a little. "Did you think I wouldn't notice my best friend acting all strange for an entire week, Armin? I know I'm not a genius but give me a little credit here." 

Eren could almost feel Armin rolling his eyes at him, before the blond pulled back and sat on the ground with a tiny 'oof'.   
Eren stood up and brushed off his trousers, before holding a hand out to Armin.   
Armin eyed it for a moment, before sighing and allowing himself to be helped up, gripping Eren's hand in his own. 

Neither of them let go, and they both started walking back to the main building.   
It was quiet for a little bit, before Armin opened his mouth, glancing around the foliage.  
"Paper comes from trees, and that paper gets used in books, doesn't it?"   
Eren looked back at him, stricken by the small smile that was gracing his already soft face.   
"Maybe that's why I come out here when I don't feel great."  
Eren tightened his grip on Armin's hand and caught his gaze, impossibly big and blue.

"Bring me out here with you more often, Armin. I'd like to hear more about the trees with you."


	6. glasses, rain, stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> evening!! sorry this chapter is later, ive been doin stuff all day (yknow... tomorrow is very very important)

It was dreary outside.

Eren sat one desk away from the window in his last class of the day, and his mind was anywhere but the teacher droning on before him. It was raining, and Eren silently mourned his clothes which would undoubtedly get drenched as soon as he walked outside.  
He lightly tapped against his wooden desk, one cheek squished into his free palm, supporting his head.

Eren looked like the epitome of boredom.  
Soon enough however, the bells signaling the end of class rang out, and his teacher wrote some questions on the whiteboard that Eren was definitely not going to do later… unless, maybe if Armin helped him with them. 

Eren pushed back from his desk, and all but swept the stationary lying on the surface into his bag, which was already half empty anyway.  
He was walking home with Armin today, and his blond friend was going to be staying over at his house for the night. Armin insisted on doing some studying at the very least, so he was gonna bring his books home so Eren wouldn’t have to. 

Eren smiled faintly as he slung his bag over his shoulder, and left the classroom, leaving behind the couple stragglers who wanted to speak to the teacher.  
Why anybody would want to torture themselves by letting him speak anymore than necessary was a complete mystery to Eren.

He walked down the school hallways, barely registering anything or anyone around him. School was like a blur to Eren, and nothing really matters, so honestly, who cares?

Well.   
There’s one person who matters.  
And he cares immensely about school. But then again, Armin was a way better teacher than any of the staff in this godforsaken building, so maybe Eren was just really biased.

Eren found himself in front of his locker, and twisted it open. He’d never bought a lock of any kind, not that he’d ever keep his valuables in there anyway. He dumped his books and things inside, and upon closing the locker door, he was met with a smiling face that made Eren’s heart drop into his stomach.  
Armin was standing there, as bright eyed as one can be when they have to wear glasses everyday. Eren always privately thought that he should try using contact lenses sometimes, because in the few rare instances he saw Armin with his spectacles off, his eyes were absolutely stunning. It was a pity they were shielded by glass lenses most of the time.

Armin was hugging a couple thin books and a folder to his chest, and Eren noticed with amusement that his bag was definitely overflowing with school materials.  
“You’re gonna break your back some day, y’know.”  
Armin rolled his eyes, and shifted his books into a more comfortable position.   
“Does this not technically count as like, I dunno, lifting weights? What other kind of exercise am I gonna get?”  
Eren shrugged, and turned the flimsy lock on his locker, before turning to the smaller blond and snatching his books and folder out of his arms before Armin could protest. He opened his mouth, expression indignant, but Eren cut in before he could speak.  
“I’m going to look like a complete ass if someone sees us walking together, and you’re there carrying the weight equivalent of like, a couple tons. Let me do this."

Armin sighed and let him be, instead turning his head to look at the downpour happening outside, and he visibly winced.   
"You don't have an umbrella, do you?"   
Eren shook his head, and Armin groaned loudly.   
"Okay, okay, whatever. But we have to hurry, alright? I'm gonna be blind the second we walk out the door." 

The two braced for impact as they walked through the main entrance to the school, and they both walked forlornly to Eren's house. Their clothes were absolutely drenched, plastered to their skin, and overall extremely uncomfortable to wear.   
Armin had it worse, however.   
Being one of those unlucky folks who have to wear glasses, he was currently trying to navigate around the path while his vision was speckled with raindrops. 

Eren couldn't help but find his awkward stumbling incredibly endearing, but he kept quiet, only speaking when warning Armin about a crack in the path or any other dangers that could make him trip over. 

They tried in vain to cover their heads with some of Armin's plastic folders, and rushed as quickly as one can when loaded up on school supplies towards Eren's house. As soon as they reached the door, Eren swung open the door and they both hauled themselves inside, all but slamming the door behind them.   
A warning shout came from Carla upstairs, and Eren grumbled under his breath as he removed his sopping wet jacket 

The two boys headed upstairs, and Eren pulled open his bedroom door. He proceeded to dump his bag beside his old wooden desk and flopped face down onto his bed. 

He smiled wryly into his pillow as he heard Armin scoff and set down his pile of books onto Eren's rickety desk.   
"You still have those stars on your wall, huh? It's been a while since I've been over here…"   
Eren rolled onto his back and looked over the glittery, pale stars that were stuck onto his bedroom walls.   
"Uh, yeah. They still glow when I turn off the lights, they're COOL."  
Armin held up his hands in faux surrender.   
"Obviously I think they're cool, have you met me?   
The smaller boy made a dissatisfied noise and removed his glasses with a sigh.

They were still covered in rain, and had also fogged up upon coming inside the warm house, so Armin began cleaning them with the hem of his t-shirt. 

Eren stared at him from his bed.   
Armin really had no idea how captivating his eyes were, so big and such a clear shade of blue. Even when he donned his spectacles, you could see his eyes shining, especially when he was going on about something he was interested in.  
His eyes would almost glow, similar to the plastic stars stuck to Eren's wall during the dark of night, and his cheeks would flush a lovely shade of red with excitement. 

Maybe that thought process was a little bit gay. 

Armin glanced over at him, narrowing his eyes to a squint.   
"What's up? You're all blurry."

Eren rolled his eyes, and laid back down on his pillow, staring straight up at the blank ceiling.   
Armin finished rubbing the water off his glasses, and placed them back onto his adorable nose, which no matter what, always had the fucking cutest little dusting of pink at the tip.   
Eren's head lolled off the side of the bed, and he looked at Armin's upside down body which was skipping through pages in a textbook.   
"Armin, turn off the lights for a sec, would ya?" 

Armin looked back at him with an incredulous expression. "If you're already trying to fall asleep, you're gonna hurt both my feelings and your grade's." 

Eren waved dismissively. "Just do it, I'm conducting an experiment. Just for a second."

Armin blew a strand of hair out of his vision, just to annoy Eren and prolong his anticipation, before leaning off his chair slightly to flick the switch next to the door. 

The room blacked out, and Eren's vision took a minute to adjust to the darkness.   
It was pitch black, as the days were getting progressively shorter during the winter months.   
However, there was one solace. 

The glow in the dark stars that littered the walls of Eren's bedroom, the little stars that had watched over Eren since he'd been a little child.   
Watched over him and Armin both as they became fast friends as young children, and spent many a day on the floor of this very bedroom, poring over books full of maps and interesting facts about far away places, interesting facts about outer space.   
And yet… 

Armin got impatient and turned the light back on. 

Eren got a glimpse of his bemused expression before he turned back to that day's homework. 

…Not even the stars could glow like Armin did.


	7. erens gift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARMIN!!! words cannot describe how much I absolutely adore him, he means so much to me and I hope he had a good day

Birthdays weren't celebrated much in the Scouting Regiment.   
If you didn't tell anyone, no one would say anything, no one would waste precious time on you, waste valuable resources on you simply for the sake of celebrating the day you were brought into this hell of a world.

At least, that's how Armin saw it. 

He never mentioned it ever. Not once.  
He didn't think he could handle the attention of all his friends fawning over him at once, plus he knew well that they'd all just buy him books.   
Not that he wouldn't immensely appreciate that, it was just kind of depressing how many of his peers seemed to consider loving books and being smart to be his only stand out traits. 

Maybe they were right. 

There were two people however, that no matter how hard he tried to discourage them, would always make sure to slip him an extra portion at meal times on his special day. 

Eren and Mikasa. 

Eren especially tried to give Armin a good day every year, never explicitly saying anything in particular, but he always seemed to look out for him a little more on that cold November morning. 

It was surprising that Eren would remember a date Armin might've mentioned maybe twice in Shiganshina, what with his head being cluttered with new revelations and information pertaining to Titans, but there was something about it that made Armin's chest tighten uncomfortably. 

Eren had been a bit flighty recently, however. He could be found zooming around the headquarters, doing all sorts of jobs here and there, extra work outside of his already assigned chores and experimentation sessions. 

Not even Mikasa seemed to know what was up with Eren's sudden passion for copious amounts of household work, but hey, if Captain Levi was in a better mood thanks to the upheld cleanliness, then he'd be less of an ass during training at least. 

Armin's birthday rose like any other day, and the boy in question lay on his bed in his cramped room, staring into space.   
He didn't really feel all that different for being a whole year older, but he supposed it was an accomplishment even reaching today, being apart of the Scouting Regiment. 

Armin swung his legs over the bed and hauled himself up, before changing into his uniform for the day.  
Each strap was as annoying to adjust as ever, but his practiced fingers weaved them all together with ease.   
He slipped on his boots, gave himself a quick once over, and combed his bed head out before leaving his bedroom. 

There was scarcely anybody in the hallways, most people were probably in the mess hall around now eating breakfast.  
Luckily for Armin, Sunday happened to be the single day of the week when all soldiers weren't required to be up at the crack of dawn, allowing Armin to take a small lie in to reflect on his birthday. 

He walked to the mess hall, gently opening the door to avoid any curious stares targeting his arrival, and he scanned over the benches for a moment before seeing a familiar mop of unruly brown hair, sitting next to a head of pretty black hair. 

Mikasa caught Armin's eye and she nodded minutely, before gently jabbing into Eren's side with her elbow and motioning her head towards  
the blond boy.   
Eren jolted out of whatever daydream he'd been having, and a huge grin broke out on his face as his gaze fell on Armin. 

Even if he didn't really like his birthday all that much, there was something about Eren's jovial approach to it that put a small smile on Armin's face.   
Armin made his way over to his best friends and sat down quietly. Mikasa passed him a plate she'd obviously gathered for him before he arrived, and he smiled at her gratefully. 

Eren was fidgeting in his seat, and as Armin ate his breakfast, he idly wondered why he'd been so restless lately.   
He started as he felt a warm hand grasp his shoulder, and turned his head to find Eren looking at him with an inscrutable expression, and the sudden intensity in his eyes had Armin freeze up in his seat.   
But then Eren smiled at him, and Armin relaxed slightly as Eren spoke to him, voice low.   
"Meet me at your room when you're done breakfast, okay? I'd invite you to my lovely dungeon cage but it's really important!" 

Armin pursed his lips, knowing for a fact that this definitely had something to do with his birthday, but he couldn't really say no when Eren looked impossibly excited about whatever it is he wanted to tell him about.   
"Yeah, okay."

He turned back to his food, and he heard Eren rise from his seat.   
Armin yelped in surprise as he felt the older boy's warm hand ruffle his hair quickly, before Eren turned on his heel and headed out the door.   
Armin covered his burning face with his hands briefly, and Mikasa gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. 

Armin slowly finished his breakfast, feeling slightly apprehensive about meeting up with Eren.   
When he was finished, he dragged his feet as he brought his plate to the kitchen to be washed by those unlucky enough to have kitchen duty today. 

Armin dawdled for just a little bit longer, chatting with Connie for a few minutes whilst the latter complained loudly about the workload that came along with doing the dishes.   
Eventually, he knew he'd just have to go see what Eren wanted from him, and he left Connie grumbling angrily to himself.

He could feel Mikasa's eyes on his back as he left the mess hall, and shuddered. She probably knew exactly what Eren had up his sleeve, so surely it wouldn't be anything too overwhelming. 

He walked down the corridors of the building towards the bedrooms.   
He and his fellow cadets who had graduated from the 104th Training Corp were granted private rooms, as thanks for their contributions to the various missions they'd been employed on already, and as a reward for actually surviving them.   
The newbie soldiers had to dorm with each other. 

Having his own space to exist in was pleasant, but at the same time, Armin sorely missed the presence of Eren beside him, from back when they shared a bunk together.   
And not just because Eren was like a human furnace. 

He rounded the corner at the end of the hallway, knowing his bedroom was only a couple paces away.   
Armin spotted Eren before he spotted him, and a small smile broke Armin's previously stoic facade.   
Eren was leaning against the wall next to Armin's bedroom door, arms crossed and tapping the tip of his foot to the beat of a quiet song he was humming.   
Armin noticed his bedroom door was slightly ajar.   
Obviously Eren had already invited himself inside, but for what exactly? 

Armin coughed lightly to get his attention, and Eren's head snapped up in his direction, face flushed slightly with embarrassment from having been caught, but his face cleared once he registered that it was only Armin, and not a random soldier.   
In fact, a bright smile stretched across Eren's face, and he pushed himself off the wall as Armin approached him. 

Armin cocked an eyebrow at him, and put on an unimpressed face. "Did you have fun rooting around my room, Eren?"   
Confusion flickered across Eren's face for a moment, til he glanced back at the open door and laughed awkwardly. "I wasn't looking through your stuff, I was just… putting something… in there."

Armin silently stared at Eren until he conceded and put his arms above his head in surrender.   
"ALRIGHT, okay, I got you a birthday present. Please don't be mad, Armin. I know you don't like it when we spoil you but I'm not gonna!! I just saw something I thought you'd like last time we had a leisure day! So…"  
Eren opened the door and held it open like the gentleman he is, smiling boyishly at Armin.   
"...come get it!"

Armin couldn't be mad at that face even if he wanted to be, so he merely sighed and returned Eren's smile half heartedly, before walking into his bedroom. 

On his bed seemed to be a book, and his heart sank. 

Eren quickly put himself between Armin and his bed, saying "I know it looks like a book, which it is technically, but it's not for reading."  
He turned around and picked up the book, and opened the pages widely to Armin. They were blank.   
Something dawned on Armin, and he reached out and absently touched one of the creamy white pages."...Is this…?"  
"It's a scrapbook-" Eren explained, closing the scrapbook and handing it over to Armin. "It's for, uh, when we get to the… ocean. You can sketch things you see and stick 'em in, uh, I think you can preserve plants and stuff in there too." 

Armin could only gaze at the book in wonder, it felt like the same feeling he'd felt when he broke into his grandfather's study and stole his forbidden book.   
Then he turned his gaze back to Eren, who was looking at him excitedly, his cheeks were slightly flushed, and damn if it wasn't adorable. 

Armin quietly placed the scrapbook back down onto his bed, and turned back to Eren to envelope him in a huge hug. Eren started in surprise, before returning the embrace and burying his face in Armin's soft hair.   
Armin hummed into Eren's shoulder, relishing the warmth that always emanated from his childhood companion. 

"Thank you, Eren. I know we're gonna get there someday, and then you can help me with this wonderful scrapbook."


End file.
